"The demand for a 50 percent salary raise in the education sector will not be the only one, and I do not think the private sector is willing to support such raises, considering the already existing gap," Vosganian says, adding that salaries of the highest qualified teaching staff had gone up by 98 percent since 2004.
The Finance Minister stated the budget draft for 2009, passed by the Government, did not include the additional expenses required by the 50 percent raise in teachers' salaries as of April.
"We did not include this factor because we put a series of pre-requirements for the adoption of certain regulations in the ordinance on postponing the law on the salary raises and it falls upon the decision-makers in office at that time to operate a budgetary adjustment if necessary."
Vosganian says that by setting a low budget deficit target for 2009, of 2 percent of the Gross Domestic Product, the Government sends out a signal that it is considering backup measures in case the international context worsens further.
"We provided for a lower share of the revenues in the GDP, of 34.5 percent, an economic growth of only 6 percent, we cut the share of administrative spending, which generally stays at the same level as in 2007 or goes up at lower rate than inflation and we cut subsidies.
Administration spending must not increase significantly year after year once the issues of buildings for headquarters and amenities have been addressed." The Finance Minister admits that the 2009 budget draft, however, is only an instrument that shows what can be done under normal circumstances, in terms of economic development and macrostability, because otherwise if it reached the Parliament it would be drastically altered given the upcoming elections. "The fiscal policy of the government was largely influenced by the political situation, too, by the minority position in the Parliament that entailed accepting conditions set forth by political parties," Vosganian says.
As for the international financial crisis, he believes that the Government is watchful, but is not on alert. "We are now faced with a confidence crisis, compared with other countries that are going through financial or even economic crises, but this, too, requires increased attention and constant evaluation on the part of the Finance Ministry and National Bank of Romania." He adds it should be noted that the macroeconomic indicators have coped so well this year, despite the vulnerabilities mentioned by foreign analysts.
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